The following contains excerpts from DCBLOG posts during Real World seasons 31 and 32 from last year, reposted in the interest of our readers and updated to include additional media.
BY DC CUEVA
■ @DC408Dxtr @ TW / IG / YT
Some of the stories we have offered you here offer a sense of inspiration, and on Thanksgiving last year, we shared with you the special bond forged between six-time Challenge champion Johnny Bananas and #1 fan and cancer survivor Kasey Harvey. Meanwhile, another fascinating and inspiring bond involving a Real World and Challenge alum also took place last year that is worthy for us to share with you again while all of you are enjoying this day and night with family and friends and the inspiration that comes with this time of the holiday season arriving.
Here, this is the story of the unlikely bond between Nia Moore of Real World Portland and a two-time Challenge participant, and a homeless man she found on the streets of Atlanta last year that had been stricken with AIDS and leukemia and had lost it all including his job and house, only for the help of crowd-funding sites and God's goodwill to quite literally save his life.
Enjoy this special ExtraTime Revisited looking back at this special bond of Nia and Jake.
● ORIGINAL STORY - From Mother's Day Weekend 2016
For those like myself who is both an MTV Trifecta fan and is social friendly, I have grown a rapport with most of the MTV family since I joined Twitter some four years ago. This includes a strong bond with each entirely-new cast of the ecosystem - whether it'd be a new set of Real World roommates since St. Thomas or the three previous Are You The One? casts, and just Friday I gave a follow to most of the AYTO Season 4 cast.
Included in that list is Portland: the last of the traditional Real World seasons with no twist for the seven strangers to worry about. It was the first Trifecta season that MTV Insider and webcast host Brian Cohen got to cover in doing cast interviews, while one of the first DCBLOG posts that I did here was a Forum post on the Reunion. There in the Pearl District, we saw Averey & Johnny's romance, Jordan getting into it with everyone, J-Deezy recording, Princess Jess and Anastasia, and Joi too. And of course, as Brian alluded to on his shows they've become a great Challenge class as well, with finals appearances and a win in their first three starts, and PDX will be well represented this time around.
There's no doubt who the most-memorable castmate of season 28, and that would be Nia Moore for all of what we saw on that season. And what happened at the end of that stay there in Portland remains burned on our brains, as was what happened on Exes 2 when a shot to be in the final was taken away from her before the last Dome. We will not discuss what happened there in further detail in this ExtraTime piece with respect to sensitivity, as the focus of this story is much more on the positive side. And if you've got a tissue box handy, you might have a tear in your eye after you read this story here on this Mother's Day. So, here it is...
On Easter Sunday, Nia met a homeless person she met on the streets in the Atlanta area named Jake, who's been living without a home for over a year after losing his job and has very little money. Since then, his life has changed for the worse: his mom passed away from cancer, and he himself contracted the HIV virus - and in turn AIDS, as well as leukemia. Despite all this, he still remains optimistic about life and his future with no negativity whatsoever and always having a bright outlook on life in spite of the tough conditions he's gone through recently. Nia says, "I found his courage and optimism to be quite admirable," and she decided to pay it forward and help Jake out by creating a Go Fund Me fundraiser to raise enough money to facilitate his living expenses in the short term towards potentially regaining a more normal life down the road.
Nia has already helped Jake out with food stamps for groceries and toiletries, providing money for public transport, applying for a new ID and social security card, and given a government-issued temporary cell phone. And the temporary plan Jake has is to stay in a low-cost motel in the Atlanta area for a few weeks and much-needed sleep in a comfortable bed, as well as a safe bank account as well. She adds, "He is a really good kid with a big heart, and he is absolutely committed to picking himself up off the ground and changing his circumstances. I want to do everything I possibly can to help him see to it."
After she created the fundraiser and got the word out to her social followers, the support for Jake was immediate. Within five hours of the appeal being made, $1,035 was raised - including an $800 donation, accounting for half of their $2,000 goal; which as this is being posted, an additional $300 has been raised. When Nia brought Jake to his motel, he was overwhelmed by the public's support in finally being able to sleep in his own bed, get a much-needed long bath, and having quality food in his fridge instead of the cold food he founds in trash cans. She posted on the page afterwards, "I'm just so grateful that we were able to do this for him, because everyone deserves a little piece of happiness...even when life tells us we can't have it. Despite having AIDS and Leukemia, Jake always reminds me of the countless things he has to be thankful for, and how optimistic he is about his future. His bravery and strength are truly remarkable."
With new ID cards and a birth certificate now in hand, the focus now have is to now find the appropriate resources to Jake to get medication for his illnesses. Their other goal is to look for permanent housing, all with eyes on regaining employment, and to say goodbye to the tough times he has endured the past year. Nia added in an additional IG post, "It truly shows me how much you guys love and support me, my endeavors and my efforts to sprinkle a little love around this world. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. A million times over. I love you guys to the moon and back, no words can describe what all of this means to me, and especially him. I met him on Easter Sunday, and never thought I even had the capacity to really change someone's life, but with your help it's been proven that together we can do anything."
When you go to work every day, chances are you'll find a person on the streets who has nothing but the clothes on their back and limited resources to rely on to get through their day. Homelessness has remained a major problem in American society despite this being one of the world's richest countries with a quality of life unsurpassed anywhere. And as you read this post, at last count the number of homeless people living in the United States is at over 610,000 people, but there has been recent progress of reducing the amount of people living in the streets of the nation's 9th largest metropolis and a one-time Olympic city with shelters and the like being opened to them.
Much in the same way that cancer survivor Kasey Harvey has brought a sense of humbleness to the persona that is Johnny Bananas, Jake has brought some sense of reflection to Nia after what we've seen from her on her two Challenges and on Real World Portland. After reading this story, it's likely the opinions you have of her as a person overall, not the Nia that we saw on TV, will have changed after doing something as good as anyone can do: meet a random stranger in the streets who has suffered so much, both emotionally and physically, .
To do your part to help out Jake, go to the Go Fund Me fundraising site at gofundme.com. Thanks Nia for doing this great deed, I've won more respect for you and hope all's well with you.
▪ ▪ ▪
● UPDATE #1: Two Weeks Later, from mid-May 2016
Before we saw Jessica & Johnny win the first Jungle and Averey tearing up after being sent home prematurely, we brought you the story of their controversial RW Portland castmate & two-time challenger Nia and her bond with an Atlanta homeless man named Jake. She met him on the streets on Easter weekend and he told her of a tough year that has seen him lose his job, contract both HIV and leukemia, and has seen him lose his home and most of his money... but has remained positive amidst the stormy seas he's endured. In response, Nia created a Go Fund Me fundraiser to help raise money for temporary housing for Jake, and her considerable following in social world has pitched in a great deal of support for him.
This past weekend on her Instagram, Nia provided an update on her friend along with a video of them as she drove him to his temporary living quarters:
"For those of you who just started following me, this is Jake. He was homeless when we first met on Easter. Our souls instantly connected and I made it my mission to help him. I set up a #gofundme page and within 6 hours we raised enough to get him a motel room for a month. Special thanks to Richard who donated a hefty $800!! Jake wants you guys to know that he is forever grateful beyond words. He is still sleeping in that warm and cozy room, not on the cold streets anymore, because of YOUR generous and thoughtful donations. 1 dollar, 5, 10, 100 or 800...it was all the same effort. He is now able to afford half of his weekly rent on his own. Our goal was $2,000 and we are literally almost there. For those of you who wish to help his cause, the door is still open! He is set to receive his disability check soon for his illnesses (AIDS & Leukemia) and has since gotten spontaneous jobs to earn money for himself. When I checked him into his motel room, he looked me in the eyes and said, "I'm not going back." He proved that on his own thus far and I am beyond proud of this kid. Without you guys, and my lord and savior, I probably would have simply gave him that 7 bucks I initially handed him and never realized I already possessed the capacity to truly save a man in need. WE did this. Strength in numbers baby!! 💋💋💋🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻" - IG @TheRealNiaMoore (link)
For the events that happened on her three MTV stints, many fans may never forgive Nia for her actions, but in being able to help somebody in need such as Jake, they should respect her more as a person outside of MTV, and know that there's more to Nia than what the folks depict her on TV. As I wrote in my post, she's earned much more of my respect for this great gesture.
Do a favor and help Jake out by donating to the Go Fund Me page formed here, with nearly $1,600 of the $2,000 goal having already been funded.
Do a favor and help Jake out by donating to the Go Fund Me page formed here, with nearly $1,600 of the $2,000 goal having already been funded.
▪ ▪ ▪
● UPDATE #2: From October 2016
This year is the 80th anniversary of the release of one of the greatest movies of all time: the 1946 holiday classic It's A Wonderful Life. James Stewart played the role of a man who sacrificed his dreams to help others and was on the verge of eventually taking his own life, only for his guardian angel to step in and show him how much his small community loved and cared for him, and how life would've been different had he not been born. The angel saved Stewart, and the film has become a Yuletide staple... it won't be long until the holiday decorations arrive in your local department store.
As we begin our ExtraTime posts for this cycle, we'd like to share with you a modern day tale of that story occurring with a member of the Trifecta who, after what we've seen from her in her past three shows would be the most unlikely of candidates to be featured in a post like this in a much different scenario than what we have seen from her on TV. And in case you missed it, it will come to most of you as a total surprise - but not so when you consider how this experience - as well as taking part in Diem Brown's last Challenge - has humbled her.
Earlier this year, we told you the story of Real World Portland roommate and two-time Challenger Nia Moore coming to the rescue on Easter Weekend of a homeless man in her hometown of Atlanta named Jake, who she found on the streets of the one-time Olympic host city. There, she went to social media avenues to have the public help a man who lost virtually everything when he lost his job, and was quite literally on the last legs of his life when she found him being stricken with AIDS and leukemia with nowhere to live but in the cold. But through the help of Go Fund Me, Nia was able to find temporary housing and quality food for Jake as well as much-needed medical attention.
Since the appeal was made, the goal of $2,000 was met, and he has been able to stay strong through all of this while maintaining a positive outlook in the face of what he's been through. But since we last updated this story, Jake has also been dealing with those aforementioned health issues that, for a moment, thought that his life would come to an end. But in a remarkable twist, there would be amazing news that amazed everyone, including the one who quite literally saved his life.
It's just an incredible story that, per her Instagram post, we just felt we should let her update on his condition and the tale that has amazed everyone involved in the inner circle.
@therealniamoore on INSTAGRAM
"How do I even explain this to you guys...so a while ago I was misinformed by several people that my homeless friend Jake had passed away. When I showed up to his motel room to check on him, his neighbor told me that he was taken to the emergency room and expected to only live about 3-4 days. I searched for three days, calling the hospital and 20 different hospice facilities to try and locate him. My efforts seemed impossible and when I went back to the motel to see if anyone could help me further, I was told that he had passed away. Being that I wasn't his legal caretaker, the hospice personnel were unable to give me any information and I basically gave up. But the strange thing is, although multiple people told me he had died, for some reason my spirit kept telling me otherwise. But as time went by my hope dwindled and I chose to accept it. Then on Sunday morning my phone rang. It was Jake. When I heard his voice it literally froze me to the core. I thought I was hallucinating. He explained to me that he had been trying to contact me for the longest after he was rushed to the hospital, but it wasn't until now that he realized he was dialing the wrong number. I can't tell you guys how relieved I am to have found him again. To know that he is still here, still kicking ass. Doctor's say his AIDS has progressed to stage 4 and they think he has developed TB, yet Jake is still smiling and optimistic about his future. He endures so much pain and stares death in the face everyday, yet he refuses to throw in the towel. Next to @diembrown, I have never known a more courageous fighter. Last night I made him filet mignon and a few of his other favorites and took it to the hospital. It was so surreal to me to sit there and laugh with him, knowing that it was just a couple weeks ago that I believed I'd lost him. I'm proud of you Jake, you are my hero man! Those of you who wish to donate to his gofundme, the link is in my bio. And if you would like to FaceTime him personally to say hello or give him some encouragement, DM me or email me and let me know. He wanted to make sure that I thank you all again for helping him get off the street this summer, you are his angels. 🙏🏻"
IG @TheRealNiaMoore
What happened with her getting into the infamous fight with Averey and Johnny in Portland or the night of teasing Jordan in Norway that cost her a certain place in a Challenge final, many will still have resentment towards her about those and she has certainly learned her lessons four years after filming her original season (the last non-twist RW, in fact). But for me, actions on TV will not change how I perceive people in real life outside of the Trifecta and will always be supportive to those who I support regardless of whatever bad behavior we see. For me, I have gained more respect for Nia in this story, which along with the memories she had with Diem in Panama, have brought her life and everything into perspective after those two incidents above as well as the rape ordeal she had to endure beforehand. She has changed for the better and has a become a better lady thanks in part to this experience as well as having a new job to fall back on.
For Jake, it's our hope that he will make a full recovery and will get back to as healthy a state as he can, but the fact that he is still living is a miracle in itself. It's obviously a remarkable thing that although he has been battling AIDS, leukemia and now developing a case of tuberculosis, that he is still upbeat and happy to be alive when those who had followed him, including Nia, thought that the end had come. But it is, as I say, a miracle and it's a good thing. We always have to take advantage of life every day because you never know what might happen next.
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
Tomorrow, DCBLOG will offer our usual weekly episode coverage as we will cover the finale reunion of The Challenge XXX, as we'll see if Nia's roommate Jordan takes the big prize or not. Plus, we'll also cover the premiere of Champs vs. Stars, a WRAP of the Challenge week that was, the Pulse of last night's Are You The One?, and an exclusive fan's view of the Dirty 30 Reunion. See you then, and Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.
- I AM DC
No comments:
Post a Comment
Got something on your mind? Let us know! But please be mindful and do not post spam or negative comments (due to that, all comments are subject to blogger approval... and we reserve the right to disable these sections if things get way out of hand).